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Apple Valley >> It took Alejandro Zepeda more than six years to tell anyone he was gay.

The 2008 Apple Valley High School graduate first realized he was interested in men, rather than women, around age 12, but didn’t have anyone he felt he could talk to about it.

“I had heard about gays and homosexuals, but I only knew that it was bad.”

Now studying horticulture at Victor Valley College, Zepeda didn’t come out to anyone until his freshman year of college, although that wasn’t about how he expected his peers to react: “High school years, I was just really, really shy.”

In fact, there was an out gay student in one of his classes, and today Zepeda kicks himself for never reaching out to him.

“I knew I was gay,” he said. “If I wasn’t (shy), I would have come out.”

When he finally came out to his parents, it might not have been a complete surprise: His mother had previously found gay romance novels hidden in his room.

Although his immediate family has been supportive, not everyone in his extended family is as approving: A grandmother and an aunt “freaked out” when one of his cousins came out as a lesbian.

“Now she doesn’t come to any family functions,” Zepeda said. “She’s welcome to come; she just can’t bring a date. Like, I can go; I just can’t bring my boyfriend.

But among his peers, things are different: Zepeda started an LBGTQ support club at Victor Valley College.

“I’m starting to meet people and feel happy,” he said. “For a long time, I never felt content. … At college, nobody cares” if someone’s gay.

Well, not quite “nobody”: Zepeda said fliers for the club have been repeatedly torn down by someone at the school, leading him to lean more heavily on social media to promote the club instead. (The club can be found on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/VvcLgbtClub.)

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Still, times haven’t changed quite fast enough, closer to home.

“Most of my family, they work with LGBT (co-workers), but it’s very different when it’s your own family.”

About the Author

Beau covers education and politics for The Sun and the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. Reach the author at Beau.Yarbrough@langnews.com
or follow Beau on Twitter: @lby3.